


Undertale: Double Trouble

by BigSaij



Series: Undertale: Double Trouble AU [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Ensemble Cast, Gen, References to Undertale Genocide Route, Spoilers - Undertale Pacifist Route, Undertale Pacifist Route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-07-11 11:48:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 18,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19927579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigSaij/pseuds/BigSaij
Summary: After infighting and a glitch in Undertale causes two brothers to get sucked into their favorite game, they must work with their favorite characters to not only get home, but also stabilize the game. They must be careful, though, as one wrong move could break the game entirely, causing the world, and themselves, to disappear forever.





	1. Chapter 1

Sans stood at one end of the corridor, Frisk standing at the other. But yet, something felt different then all the other genocide runs. Frisk just didn't have the determination to actually kill Sans. At some moments they attacked with the fury of a demon, almost at the speed of Sans himself, but at others they seemed to almost want to get hit by the many blasters the filled the room at times. The stalemate had been going for hours on end.

"Kid, I'll be honest with you. You don't seem very interested in this whole genocide thing anymore, so how about you just reset, and bring my brother back?" Sans knew better then anyone that reasoning wouldn't work with the human, but it wasn't like trying would make the situation worse.

Frisk's face flinched for a split second, then turned back into the usual stone wall. No emotion. Just plain blankness, and sometimes determination.

"Well, see you soon, I guess." Blasters once again covered the hallway, all pointed at Frisk. But as soon as they were about to fire, they all just... disappeared.

The room started to shake. Random patches of wall and window blinked out of existence, leaving only black splotches of void in their place. Sans fell backwards, almost hitting his head against the floor. When it looked like things couldn't get any worse, Frisk suddenly pulled out their knife and ran towards Sans. They jumped, going for the killing blow. But right as it was about to hit his chest...

An explosion blew everything apart.

\----

Frisk's head was pounding like a drum, bouncing around in their head. They couldn't move, hear, or see anything. After a few minutes, though, the pain finally started to die down. Their ears started working again, and Frisk could hear groans coming from nearby. That got them moving. Frisk guessed it was Sans, probably getting up to kill them. They knew they needed to get up first, but not to kill him. The strange murderous intent that had plagued Frisk for what seemed like infinite runs was finally gone. Frisk needed to escape this room so they could reset and start again. But as they got up, Frisk saw more then just Sans in the room. There were three other humans, and one of them...

It was them. The face. The hair. The green and yellow striped shirt. It was Chara, their partner wherever Frisk went. Whether it was a pacifist, neutral, or genocide run, Chara was always there. being the guiding hand of Frisk. They were one more thing, though. At the end of every genocide run, Chara would be the one that destroys the world. So seeing them now, here? It chilled Frisk to the bone. Even worse was that Chara was just getting up, and they blocked the only exit to the reset area. After getting up, they brushed off their shirt, looked around a bit, then stared at Frisk. This continued for a few seconds until Frisk broke the silence.

"Are you going to kill me?" It was the last thing Frisk wanted to ask, but it was the thing they needed answering the most.

"Well, considering that our Level of Violence is already 19, and I have a piece of your soul already," Chara pulled out what looked roughly about a quarter of Frisk's soul, "It would be pretty easy to do so. However, I'd like to see who those two are before we do this whole thing over again." They pointed at the two humans still sprawled on the floor.

"Well, we can at least wake Sans..." They both looked over to see that Sans had disappeared. "Where did Sans go?"

"Who knows, and who cares?" Chara shrugged their shoulders. "Lets hurry up and wake those two."

Frisk walked over to the larger of the two humans. This one was definitely a boy, and he looked around 14 in age. He was wearing a purple shirt with blue stripes, which Frisk noticed just happened to be the inverse of their own shirt. Frisk gently shook him awake.

"Ugh, my head..." He slowly opened his eyes. "Hey, thanks for waking me up. Who are you?"

"My name's Frisk. What's yours?"

"I'm Matthew." He smiled a bit. "Frisk, huh? Ever heard of Undertale? Anyway, where are we?"

Frisk was about to answer when a loud scream pierced the air. They both looked over to see that the other human was crawling on all fours back against the wall.

"Chara, did you use your scary face to wake him up?" Frisk already knew the answer.

Chara turned their head so Frisk could see their melting eyes and mouth. "Well Frisk, it isn't funny unless they're scared."

Matthew suddenly looked like he had the world crash down on him. "Wait, but if you really are Chara, then... this really is Undertale, isn't it?

"Uh, this isn't 'Undertale', this is the Underground. There used to be a lot of monsters here, but..." Frisk hung their head.

Matthew seemed to understand. "God damnit, Sammy." he muttered. "Curse you and your love of fighting Sans."

That seemed to get Chara's attention. They came walking over. "How do you know who Sans is?"

He chuckled. "Chara, I know more about the underground then you probably do. For example, if you beat Sans, eventually you would meet Asgore, then Flowey."

Chara's eyes narrowed. "I don't know how you know that, but I'll be keeping an eye on you." They walked back over to the other human.

"So, how did you get here? Can you teleport like Sans?"

Matthew thought for a second. "Well, I remember Sammy trying to kill Sans, and me trying to stop him... then it got so intense that we smashed into my computer, and now we're here."

"Doesn't make any sense to me, but hey, most things don't in this world." Frisk thought back to Papyrus and Undyne.

"Well, now that my brain is about half working, lets go check in on Sammy.

\----

Chara was getting fed up with this kid. Sure, he looked about 10 and was probably a big baby, but him randomly saying "Please don't kill me," was getting on their nerves.

"Look, kid. I know that I can be pretty scary and all, but I won't kill you unless you give me a good reason to!" At this point, it was hard not to raise their voice. Suddenly, Frisk and Matthew came over.

As soon as Matthew knelt down next to him, he slapped his face. "That's for forcing Frisk to kill everyone in the Underground multiple times!"

Chara immediately hated this kid, so they slapped him too. "And that's for making me watch Frisk do that!"

"But Matthew..." Sammy bubbled, "It's Chara! The one that killed everyone and Frisk! Aren't you scared of them?"

"Oh please, that was all you fault. You were the player, remember?" Matthew leaned in towards Chara. "But uh, could you not do the melting face again? Maybe hide your eyes also, the bright red kinda freaks me out too."

"Like I can control what color my eyes are..." Chara grumbled.

While Matthew tried to calm Sammy down, Chara took a walk around the hall. It was obvious that they were both the ones behind Frisk's actions, the mysterious presence that took control of Frisk's body ever since they fell into the Underground. Sammy was definitely the Genocider, the one who took glee in murdering everyone. Matthew seemed disgusted by Sammy's actions, so he probably has the moral high ground, but Chara knew he was no knight in shining armor. No human was. All humans were flawed, terrible, and disgusting creatures. It was probably why they wanted to smash every human's face into a rock whenever they met one. They only true friend they ever had was Asriel, and he was currently a cowardly flower hiding in the shadows. After what seemed like forever, Frisk and the other two walked over.

"So," Matthew started, "I've figured out that we're here because of a major glitch in the game. You saw it as the explosion and the missing wall pieces. We saw it as falling through my piece of junk computer."

"Told you that buying from weird people would be a bad idea." Sammy interrupted. Matthew shot him a look, then continued.

"I've also discovered that we each hold about a quarter of Frisk's soul. Matthew and Sammy both held out their portions. "Now, I'm sure all of us want me and Sammy back in our world, but the odds of another glitch like that happening again are really low. The best chance is during a traumatic event in the game. Our two options are when Asriel breaks the barrier in Pacifist, or when Chara destroys the world during Genocide.

"So why don't you just let me finish this?" Chara shot out. It would be the easiest way.

"Because you doing that would likely kill us both. That only leaves us with resetting, and doing a Pacifist run. Now, because Frisk's soul is shattered, we'll all need to reset together for this to work. Maybe. I'm just kinda guessing right now."

"First off, kinda isn't the word I'm looking for when it involves resets. Second, why would I help you guys? You are the entire reason that we are in this mess in the first place!" Chara was a little pissed off, to say the least.

"Look, Chara. I promise, if you help us, I'll find a way to bring Asriel back, and keep your happy ending. You and him can live your lives on the surface in peace. Just please help us through this." Matthew was pleading right now. It almost looked like the way Asriel did... Chara thought back to all the good times they and Asriel had.

"Alright, fine. But you better bring him back, or I'll gut you like a fish." Chara enjoyed the scared look in Matthew's usually confident eyes.

They all filed out of the Judgement Hall back into New Home. Circling around the Save Point, there was a flash... and then they were gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The beginning...  
> If you find any mistakes, please comment and I'll fix them as soon as I can. Pointing these out will help me improve as a writer. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

Matthew couldn't see or hear anything. All he could do was feel his brother's hand on one side, and Chara's hand on the other. They seemed to spin around and around in the void for what seemed like an eternity.

"So this is what happens every time a reset happens." Matthew, never being in the game itself, only saw the loading screen from the other side, and not from Frisk's perspective. He barely had time to think about that before they were suddenly dropped onto a soft yellow flower bed, with the only light coming from the gaping hole above.

"Ow, the flowers don't really do much to cushion the fall, do they?" Sammy was rubbing the back of his head.

"First time?" Frisk asked with a smile.

"Let's just do this so I can get home. You guys stay here while I go talk with Flowey in the next room." I figured there was no reason wasting time with useless babbling.

"Are you going to tell him that I'm here or not?" Chara seemed particularly interested in this part, probably because this was the entire reason they agreed to this.

"I don't think I can," Matthew admitted. "If Flowey does something different he might not absorb the human souls and break the barrier."

Matthew stood up, brushed off the flowers from their body, and walked into the next room. Right around the the corner he could see the soulless reincarnation of Asriel Dreemurr, waiting for Frisk to walk in to start his dialogue.

"Really, Fris-" He stopped, getting a good look at Matthew. "Wait, you're not Frisk. Who are you?"

"Frisk isn't available right now, so I'm filling in for them." The less Flowey knew before the barrier was broken, the better.

"Well, since you obviously haven't been to the Underground before, I guess I'll have to teach you how things work around here!"

"Yes, go ahead and hit me with your white bullets of pain." Although it broke parts of Matthew's charade, he really didn't like being fooled, or even pretending to be fooled.

Flowey sighed, then pulled out Matthew's piece of Frisk's soul. "Hey, this isn't a full soul! Where's your other pieces?"

Matthew shrugged. "I guess I dropped them somewhere."

"I guess a piece of a soul will do for now." Bullets filled the room, surrounding Matthew. "Blah blah, your soul is mine."

Matthew looked at his non-existent watch. "And... now."

A fireball appeared out of nowhere, smashing into Flowey and sending him flying. Toriel, the keeper of the Ruins, walked in.

"My child, are you hurt? Oh my, what happened to your soul? Did that flower do that to you?"

"No, it was like this before that. It's ok to get in now, guys!" Matthew called out.

Frisk, Chara, and Sammy all walked into the room. Toriel stepped back, surprised by all the humans at once.

"Are these all your friends? I wasn't expected so many, and... Chara?"

Toriel froze as the room began to shake, and glitches began appearing everywhere. Then, as quick as it started, they disappeared.

"Chara, is that really you?" Toriel continued as if nothing had happened. The four humans exchanged glances at each other.

"Yeah, mom, it's me." For not seeing your mother for who knows how long after you died, Matthew thought that Chara's reaction was pretty underwhelming.

"Well, we should get you back home, shouldn't we?" Toriel turned around. "Follow me, children. I will guide you through the Ruins."

Matthew motioned for the others to stay behind for a second. "You guys all saw that too, right?"

"Yes, the walls were disappearing like when I fought Sans." Frisk winced, as if bringing that up brought bad memories.

"Alright, so although it causes glitches, we need to stay together. We're all bound by Frisk's soul, so going too far apart could have dire consequences." For some reason, Matthew was reminded of a coach giving a pep talk before a game.

Everyone in the group nodded assent, then together, they ventured into the ruins.

\----

Sammy walked slowly in the back of the group as they followed Toriel through the ruins. He was amazed by the leadership his big brother, Matthew, was showing right now. He always had those traits, like keeping cool under pressure, good decision making, and looking the part. If he wasn't here, Sammy would have no idea on what to do. It was bad enough that all of the others had a mutual displeasure of him. Chara was borderline hatred for making them and Frisk do so many genocides. Chara probably would have killed Sammy, if not for Matthew's smooth talk. Sammy knew, however, that Matthew had no idea how to bring Asriel back in the end. He knew the look he made whenever he was bluffing, and it showed clear as day back in the Judgement Hall.

As Sammy walked through the endless pink and purple hallways, he found himself staring multiple times at both Chara and Frisk. He had seen a few animations of people drawing a realistic Frisk and Chara, and they seemed right on the money. It was still weird, however, seeing characters that were once just sprites on a screen. The whole world being a game. Sammy did so many genocide routes either because it was fun, or simply the fact that he could. He never understood how Matthew, who also enjoyed the game, saw more to it then most people. He saw people where there was sprites, and futures past when the game ended. The two opposing views sparked endless debates on the morals of each other.

"Sammy, Cinnamon or Butterscotch?"

"Huh?" Sammy was snapped out of his deep thoughts to see Matthew on an old cellphone, looking at him expectantly. "Uh, Cinnamon."

Matthew got back on the phone. "Alright, two Cinnamons and two Butterscotches." He listened for a bit, then nodded and hung up.

"Wait, why did Matthew get the phone?" It wasn't exactly an Iphone X, but technology was technology.

"Because he's the oldest out of all of us, and probably the most responsible. It was the truth. Matthew looked the oldest and the tallest, at 15 years old. Chara and Frisk both looked around 13 to 14, with Sammy being the youngest at 13. Sammy decided not to press the issue.

"Wait, why haven't we fought a monster yet?" Sammy wasn't eager to fight one, but he wanted experience in the matter before fighting monsters like Mettaton and Asgore.

"Probably because we're in such a large group. The monsters only attacked me before because I was alone and looked easy to fight." Frisk was quiet for most of the walk, so hearing them speak was a nice refresher from the endless muttering coming from Matthew at the front. "I still expect to fight Napstablook, through. I only fought him because I needed to get past him."

Matthew nodded in approval. Sammy thought it was strange, in the ways that him and Frisk were alike. Outside, in the real world, he was much different. Out there, Matthew was the hard one, who always pounded on Sammy whenever he felt like it. Why then, did Matthew get the inverse shirt of Frisk, and not Chara? Why did Sammy get the inverse of Chara instead? Sammy was good at asking these deep questions, but terrible at answering them.

They continued through the stone hallways, occasionally stopping to let Matthew solve the puzzles that seemed to be in every room. Sammy also noticed that Matthew was holding onto a Monster Candy. That was yet another question he had. How exactly does food work down here? Does it instantly heal all your wounds?

"Hold it." The group came to a stop in front of the familiar white shape. "Alright, since I know everyone here knows how to dodge, I think we should be fine. Chara, since I know ACTing isn't really your thing, you don't have to, but at least try not to slash at him, alright?"

Chara grunted a bit, which Matthew seemed to accept. He stepped forward, then everything went dark for a second. Then, Sammy's piece of soul came out, along with everyone else's, and illuminated the battle zone. Napstablook appeared at about the same time. He looked almost exactly the same as the game sprite, but that was probably because as a ghost in the shape, there isn't much detail to him.

Sammy could see Matthew looking over at the orange buttons in front of him, all labeled with different words in all capital letters. He watched him press the ACT button, then Napstablook, then cheer. Sammy suddenly felt a massive urge to say nice things to Napstablook, to cheer him up. Something was forcing him to do it. He could also hear all the other saying similar things, except for Chara. They somehow resisted the urge.

"Heh..." The white tear bullets came rushing towards them. Frisk and Chara both expertly dodged all of them, doing fancy twists and turns and coming out unscathed. Sammy was a bit more clumsy, but still made it through without a scratch. It was Matthew, however, that took almost the full force of the bullets. After the attack ceased, he fell to his knees, covered in scratches and bruises, with a bit of blood dripping down his face. He weakly repeated last turn's actions. All three took turns telling a joke, with Matthew's being a pun about ghosts. It barely came out as a wheeze.

"Just not feeling up to it right now. Sorry."

Matthew was just able to press the series of buttons a third time before falling to his knees. His bleeding seemed worse now. Sammy watched as he fell to the floor right as Napstablook turned into "Dapperblook". Matthew weakly gave a thumbs up before his hand gave out.

And with that, the battle ended.

\---

Frisk rushed over to Matthew, barely listening to what Napstablook was saying. They quickly dug into Matthews pant pockets, looking for the Monster Candy he had earlier. Frisk located it, and was just about to put it in his mouth when saw his health bar. 0/5 HP. And yet, his piece of soul hadn't fractured into a million pieces yet. Frisk froze, shocked for a second, before shoving the Monster Candy in. As soon as it passed his lips, Matthew's bleeding became less severe. As his HP slowly went up, cuts and bruises began to fade. In just 30 seconds flat, he was back to being perfectly healthy again.

Frisk lightly shook his head. "Matthew, get up." Chara came over, took one good look at Matthew, then kicked him in the side.

"Ow!" Matthew got onto his side, doubling over in pain. Frisk was not amused.

"Chara, what was that for?"

"What? It got him up." Chara did not look guilty or remorseful in the slightest.

"It's fine, it's fine..." Matthew slowly sat up. "Frisk, could you help me up?"

As Frisk helped him up, they noticed that there wasn't actually much weight on them. Maybe he was trying to get a reaction out of Chara? If so, it wasn't working.

"So, does anyone know why I'm not dead?" Matthew asked the question that was most likely on everyone's minds.

"No, do you?" Sammy just seemed to say this on instinct, like this sort of thing happened before.

"Well, when I feel, I could feel that my piece of soul was pulling from all of yours. This probably means that we are still linked by common threads between us, sharing our life force."

"Could you explain that in simple terms?" It was weird when Frisk had to ask about their own soul, but it had happened before.

"We can't die unless all of us die. When we lose all our HP, we collapse and can't do anything, but as long as someone else is alive, our souls won't actually shatter."

"Look, I hate to interrupt this mindshattering moment, but can we keep moving?" Chara, along with being heartless and downright mean, was also very impatient.

"Yeah, I'm fine now, we can keep moving." Matthew waved us along. Frisk stayed near him, just in case he fell somewhere.

"Hey Frisk, can you hold onto something for me?" Matthew pulled out a spider donut.

"Huh? Oh, a donut. Where did you get the G for that?" With no monsters to fight, no one had any G to buy anything yet.

"I bought it on credit. I promised the spiders that I would pay Muffet 100 G when we got to Hotland. I'm giving it to you now because I know you'll keep it safe and not use it until we get there."

"Until we get to Hotland? Why do we need-" Frisk suddenly had flashbacks of the spider room. "Oh, yeah."

As Chara and Sammy turned the corner towards the big black tree, Frisk moved to follow them, only to bump into Matthew. "Where are you going?"

"Just stay here for a second." Matthew kept going straight, disappearing into the gloomy hallway. He returned with a toy knife in hand.

"Also, wear this." He pulled out a Faded Ribbon and put it on Frisk. On their arm, a bandage suddenly popped off. Matthew caught it and put in in his pocket.

"Uh, don't you need this more then I do?" Frisk thought that Matthew needed the extra DEF.

"I tried putting it on, but it just doesn't feel right. Maybe something else in the underground will feel better. C'mon, let's catch up with the others."

Frisk and Matthew lightly ran back to Chara and Sammy, who were waiting by the big tree. Matthew tossed the Toy Knife to Chara, who caught it without a word. There was, however, a slight look of approval on their face.

Sammy looked like he couldn't hold something in any longer. "Matthew, you missed Toriel's praise! She saw me and Chara unscathed and was pretty impressed!"

Frisk saw Matthew give a light grin. "Well, you are pretty special, aren't you?"

"Now that's what a big brother should be like." Frisk's only example of brotherhood was Sans and Papyrus, though that didn't seem exactly like a normal Brother-Brother relationship.

"Ready to finally get some sleep?" Frisk just noticed that Matthew did look pretty sleepy.

"Yeah, I guess I'm tired too," Sammy assented. On that note, they went inside Home.

\---

If one had peeked into the spare room inside Toriel's house, they would have seen Chara sleeping roughly on the bed, with the others using stuffy toys as pillows and sleeping on the floor. If that same person had started a battle with the eldest child, they would have noticed a slight growth on the side of his soul, almost like a tumor. It would be a rich purple color, contrasting from the bright red of the main piece. Then, in the middle of the night...

"Your LOVE increased."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens...  
> If you find any mistakes, please comment down below and I'll fix them as soon as I can. Your input helps me improve as a writer. Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

Chara awoke on a familiar bed, in a familiar home. Remembering all the events from the.. day? Night? Time measures like those were meaningless in the Underground. Either way, Chara quickly turned around to find the other three still sleeping soundly on the hardwood floor. They slowly got out of the blankets, then crawled out of bed. Not wanting to wake the others just yet, but also not wanting to see Toriel more then they had to, Chara just sat against the far wall, looking intently at Matthew and Sammy. It wasn't that Chara hated Toriel, in fact that couldn't be farther from the truth. It just stirred up too many bad memories, memories they weren't able to face yet. Once they got Asriel back, then maybe they'd be able to relive the past again.

Asriel. The only true friend Chara ever had. Chara had no doubt that Matthew had no idea how to bring him back. He was just lying to save his skin, just like any other human would. It would be so easy to kill them both now, and reclaim the soul that was rightfully theirs. But, Matthew saying that back then... it reopened feeling Chara hadn't experienced in a long time. With the timeline in shambles right now, and the entire world just struggling to cope with 4 humans at once, maybe they really could save Chara's lifelong friend. If nothing else, it would be fun to watch.

Matthew. That kid was so weak, and yet so strong at the same time. Physically, he had no chance. Although, he did look a bit stronger then when Chara first met him. Something had changed about him, but Chara couldn't put their finger on it...

Anyway, it was mentally that Matthew really shined. Being able to keep your cool under pressure, taking charge in dangerous situations, these were qualities that even Chara respected. Maybe because those were qualities that Chara had, at least before.

As for Sammy, well it was the exact opposite. He seems strong enough to hold his own in combat. During the fight with Napstablook, he dodged with almost enough skill to beat someone like Undyne. The problem was, he could go into complete train wreck mode. It was very easy to break him mentally, and after that he becomes a mess. A bit like Frisk and Asriel, in some ways.

It was true, Chara hated humanity. They hated all of them for everything done to Monsterkind. Not only that, but the other crimes committed against their own race. But for humans, these two seemed... ok. But there was always something. Something nasty that would ruin their lives. Always something...

Chara woke again right were they were, and Matthew was slowly getting up. Nothing had changed, except that there were 4 slices of Cinnamon-Butterscotch Pie on plates, one set in front of each person. They smelled of nostalgia... of better times.

"Ah, the pie has arrived. We'll need it for fighting Asgore and Asriel." Typical Matthew, looking that far ahead. Maybe he should start focusing on the now. "C'mon, guys, we need to get up."

Sammy and Frisk slowly stirred from their beds. They both saw the Pie, and were both pleasantly surprised. "So, what's the plan now, bro?"

"I suggest that we leave as soon as possible. It's not that I don't enjoy Toriel's company, it's just that I really want to see Sans." Chara agreed with about half of that statement. That skeleton could rot in hell for all they cared. "Chara, could you go outside and watch Sammy for a bit? I want to talk to Frisk privately."

Chara did and didn't enjoy that tone at the same time. Matthew obviously had no intention of hurting Frisk, but his tone left no room for discussion. Sammy seemed to understand and left immediately. Chara decided not to push it and left as well, closing the door behind them.

"So Chara, seeing as how she's your mom, do you want to talk to Toriel with me?"

"No." The hardness of Chara's voice seem to startle Sammy.

"But... why not? She's basically your-"

Chara grabbed Sammy and shoved him against the wall. Sammy looked to see if someone, anyone, would come to his aid.

"But nobody came." Chara snarled out the words.

"What... what are you going to do to me?"

"Oh, nothing yet. This is just a warning." Chara smiled as sweetly as they could. "My past is something no one could understand. Anyone that tries will either fail or get killed. So forget anything you think you know about me. If you don't, then..."

Chara put on the scary face. The melting face really seemed to get to him. "I will personally stab you so many times that even your brother won't recognize you. Understand?"

Sammy nodded so fast Chara almost couldn't keep up. They dropped him on the floor. "And, if your brother or Frisk finds out, I'll know too. Remember that."

And with that, Chara walked away.

\---

"So, this is just so I can get to know you more, Frisk. I know that you have a... troubled past." Funny, this place seemed perfect for a counselor's room. Only this time, he was the counselor.

"It's ok to talk about the past runs. I know that you remember your actions, and you have a heavy burden on your shoulders. But you don't have to carry that burden alone. I know you don't know me that well, but I'm perfectly fine with you confiding in me if you need to." Matthew hated this stuff when he was on the other side, but he knew it was necessary. He didn't want to see the tears start rolling down Frisk's face, but it had to be done.

"Please... stop..." That shot a pang of pain through Matthew's heart. It said to stop here, that opening this wound was a terrible idea, and that he would regret it. But he kept going.

"And just remember, those weren't your actions. Those murders weren't by your hands. Forcing someone to do something like that doesn't make the person holding the knife responsible." This was as far as Matthew planned to go. He started to settle down the room.

"So just... keep this in mind as we continue forward, alright? I may have just met you, but I really do care about you." Matthew stood and turned to leave. But just as he was turning the door handle...

"I hated myself." Matthew paused, turning around to listen. "I hated myself for what I was doing."

Matthew sat back down. He knew it wasn't quite over yet.

"It felt... awful. Watching yourself kill everyone you ever cared about, and not being able to stop it. I... just wanted it all to end." The tears were really gushing now. "But it didn't."

"It just keep going and going. And I kept killing and killing. And when Chara finally killed me and I hoped to finally rest, someone sold my soul. So the cycle began again. And again. And again."

"And now..." Frisk suddenly lunged forward, burying their face in Matthew's green and yellow sweatshirt. "How can I just put that behind me?"

Matthew slowly patted Frisk's head, trying to be someone he never was. Back then, he was the one who caused these types of meetings. He never was one to help someone else out of goodwill. But this... this was something different.

"I know, you can't put that behind you, and you may never be able to." Matthew knew that truth better then anyone. "But you don't have to hold that alone."

After a few minutes, Frisk finally seemed to regain their composure. "Thanks, Matthew. I feel... a little lighter now."

Matthew smiled. And this wasn't the many fake smiles he had put on over the years, trying to be happy. This smile came from the pure joy from his heart, and his soul. "It was the least I could do. Ready to keep going?"

Frisk looked at Matthew, with a new kind of determination. This was the same as many years ago. Not to try and just get the job done, but to save everyone you love. "I'm more then ready."

Matthew opened the door, and they both stepped out as new people, ready to face the challenges ahead.

\---

Flowey thought he knew every possible outcome of the Ruins. That's why he was so surprised when he saw the group of 4 exit the door without a fight from Toriel. Flowey was never one to lose his voice, though, so he started right on what he wanted to say.

"So, you think you guys are sooooo smart. Being able to exit the ruins without a fight from that old goat."

"Well, I was surprised too. I really thought that-" Matthew interrupted

"Hey, I'm talking here! Anyway, so you guys think that you're little angels."

"Oh please, no human is an angel." The one speaking was a odd hooded figure. The voice was so familiar. The tone, too...

"Yeah, and-" Flowey finally found what he was looking for. He smiled wickedly. "So, Matthew. You think that you're so innocent, don't you. You think that you've never killed anyone, huh?"

"I never have killed anyone!" Matthew repeated defensively.

"Well, maybe you and your friends can take a look at your LOVE, huh? I'll leave you to it!"

Flowey dug back into his tunnel system, reappearing nearby. He listened closely to the group, who didn't realize that Flowey was still eavesdropping.

"Bro, whats that weird purple thing on your soul? And why is your LV 2? I thought you said not to kill any monsters!"

"But I didn't, I swear!"

Frisk simply started crying. It was almost music to Flowey's ears. The tears caused by betrayal were extra nice.

"I knew you couldn't be trusted." The hooded figure turned away, obviously just disappointed by them. Something about them just seemed so...

"Wait." That tone. It was one of someone who just figured something out. Flowey listened in closer.

"Purple. Perseverance. That's my trait. My true colors are showing."

"What do you mean, Matthew?" The sobs had died down a little.

"This is why I couldn't wear the ribbon. It's a weapon of patience. The game requires that each person have a soul, so I'm growing my own. I'm regaining my trait from the real world, along with my actions."

"But bro, you never killed anyone!"

"Sammy, do you know what LV really stands for?" There was no response. "It stands for Level of Violence. It's not just a way of counting how many murders you've committed... it shows your capacity to hurt. And I've learned how to hurt."

"Wait." The hooded figure had returned. "You said that each person needed a soul. Well, your brother and I don't have one yet."

"I bet if you check Sammy's soul it'll have a bit of green on it. He's always been kind when he needed it." A quick look showed this was true. "And as for you, there's one character that doesn't have a soul, even in a normal game. Because they don't need it."

"Chara."

Flowey gasped louder then he wanted. Luckily, the group didn't seem to notice. A thousand thoughts rushed through Flowey's head. Chara, alive? And here? But this is nothing like the Chara he remembered! The real Chara would have killed the whole group by now!

Now he understood. They somehow had twisted Chara into doing their bidding. They were nothing now but a compliant servant to them. But Flowey was determined to save them. He was determined to bring back his real best friend.

Even if it meant killing every single living thing in the Underground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More then just Matthew-Frisk bonding time...  
> If you find any mistakes in my writing, please let me know in the comments. Your input helps me improve as a writer. Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

"You feel your sins weighing on your back." That was all Matthew could think about as the four stepped out into the freezing air of Snowdin Forest. With everything going on, Matthew was able to forget his past actions, but now? They were coming back in full force, weighing on him like lead weights.

Matthew started with a troubled past. He was extraordinarily smart for his age, due to his sharp mind and quick wit. However, this only made his parents push harder, telling him to get better, almost to the point of impossibility. When he failed to meet their expectations, it started with physical beatings. Something his parents enjoyed, however, was verbally destroying him. Telling him he was nothing, that he was too lazy, that he would never get anywhere in life. Matthew refused to believe it at first, but eventually, they broke him. They made him into a steaming volcano, who was very enjoyable as long as the pressure was contained. When it blew, however, and it did blow very easily, he would do anything just to see other's pain, suffering.

And he enjoyed it.

Enemies, strangers, friends, even his brother were common targets for his rage. He would push, shove, and beat those closest to him. Even when they were on the ground, begging for mercy, he would tell them that they were weak, that they should just give up on everything. Sure, he regretted his actions later, but in the moment he wished for nothing more then the complete destruction of others.

Ever since he met Frisk, Matthew was able to keep the mountain dormant. He was too confused, then too busy, and then too happy to get angry. But now, that volcano was back.

And it would only be a matter of time before it blew again.

\---

Sammy was too busy to realize the troubled looks on on the other's faces. All he was focused on was his newfound soul piece. He knew that green was the color of Kindness, and also the color of healing. Maybe that meant that he would be a healer? It was too early to tell. Sammy's maximum HP had also rose to 6. This was most likely because Sammy's soul was now bigger, so it could take more hits.

He was dreaming about how powerful he would get when suddenly a sharp CRACK was heard behind them. Everyone's head turned around so fast, their hair spun around like a plate. About 5 feet away from them, a large branch was shattered into pieces. Sammy could've sworn that it was in one piece when they walked over it...

"Oh, it's time." Frisk and Chara just nodded. They both knew what was coming.

Sammy could hardly contain his excitement, and he was sure that his brother was the same way. Sans was, after all, their favorite character out of every video game they had ever played. Something about him was just so... likable.

Frisk also seemed ready to go, though Chara wasn't exactly a happy camper right now. They sighed, tightened their hoodie, and started walking.

Back at Home, when Matthew brought out some dead kid's sweater, Chara wasn't exactly thrilled to wear it. The argument went something like this;

"Hey Chara, I found you a nice disguise for the Underground!"

"Matthew, there is no way that I'm wearing some past human's clothes!"

"Chara, we both know that everyone in the Underground knowing who you are right now isn't the best scenario!"

"You do realize that I already have a sweater on, right?"

Matthew thought for a second. "Alright, we'll find you something else once we get to Hotland. Until then, I'm sure that you'll appreciate the extra layer through the cold of Snowdin and Waterfall."

Chara grudgingly put on the purple sweatshirt. It fit snugly, like it was made for them.

"H u m a n s."

Sammy snapped out of Lala land, coming back to the present. Matthew made a rotating hand symbol, then a hand across the throat. Don't turn around yet.

"D o n 't y o u k n o w h o w t o g r e e t a n e w p a l? T u r n a r o u n d a n d s h a k e m y h a n d."

Matthew slowly turned around and shook a shadowed hand from behind them. A low farting noise could be heard.

Sammy started laughing first. It was his type of humor. "Ah, the old whoopee cushion in the hand joke?" He turned around to see the skeleton more clearly.

"yep, such a classic." Sans, being a magic pile of bones, shouldn't have been able to show emotions that well, but you could kind of sense the mood his was in. It was like an aura, giving off Sans' feelings.

Matthew was looking at Chara, who was the only one not laughing. "Sorry about them, they aren't really into our great jokes. Good thing nothing gets under your _skin,_ eh?"

"heh, nice one kid." Sammy rolled his eyes. Puns were the one thing Matthew loved, and the one joke Sammy couldn't get. "so, what brings you humans into this part of the Underground?"

"We're just passing by on the way to the king. None of us are in a real hurry, though, so if you need anything you can just ask." Chara looked like they wanted to object, but held their tongue.

"well, since you're passing though anyway, i've got a bro. name's Papyrus. he's never seen a human before, and it would really make his day if you guys could solve his puzzles."

"Of course. Does anyone object?" Matthew looked at Frisk, then Sammy, skipping Chara who's red eyes seemed to be burning at Sans. "Alright, cool. Sans, lead the way."

As Sans started walking across the wooden bridge, Chara hurried to Matthew's side. Sammy could just barely hear out their conversation.

"You know I really hate that skeleton. Why make me spend more time with him?"

"We need to have that date with Papyrus to get the good ending! I'm sure you can spend some some time with Sans if it means getting Asriel back in the end."

Chara started to say something, then faltered. They slowed down, heading to Frisk to talk with them. Sammy jogged over to Matthew and Sans.

"We should be able to solve the puzzles, and Papyrus shouldn't be a huge problem as long as we can navigate his blue attack."

"so, you already know everything about that, don't you?"

"Uh guys, I hate to interrupt, but..." Sammy pointed right in front of them, where Papyrus was visibly seen walking towards them.

"alright, let me talk to him first. you guys just stay back for a second."

Papyrus stopped a couple of yards away from Sans, looking very annoyed. Then again, when it came to Sans, Papyrus usually was.

"sup, bro?"

"YOU KNOW WHAT 'SUP' BROTHER! IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T..." Papyrus finally seemed to have noticed the humans. "OH MY GOD SANS, ARE THOSE HUMANS?"

"uh... those are rocks."

"OH."

"hey, what are those things behind the rocks?"

"ARE THEY HUMANS?"

"yes."

"OH MY GOD! SANS, I FINALLY DID IT!" Papyrus cleared his non-existent vocal cords. "HUMANS! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU! PUZZLES AWAIT YOU! CONTINUE... ONLY IF YOU DARE! NYEH HEH HEH!"

Papyrus ran off, though the distant "HEH" could still be heard in the distance. Sans turned back to the humans.

"well, thanks for helping me out. i'll be seeing you guys down the road." He then just stood there, like he was waiting for something.

"Yeah, we'll be going now." Matthew turned to keep going. As they left, Sammy could hear Matthew say "Sans and his shortcuts..." under his breath. Sammy quickly turned around to see if Sans had heard, but nothing had changed. He then twisted back to rejoin the group.

\---

Frisk watched carefully at Matthew as he took the lead. Something had changed about him ever since they left the Ruins. He still walked with the same purpose as before, but there was some sort of added tension, like he knew something was about to happen. His feet dragged through the snow, making him look like lead weights were latched onto his legs.

Frisk, however, was just the opposite. Ever since their private meeting at Home, all the guilt and anger they had just disappeared. The same spring in their step was back, something they hadn't had since their first Pacifist Run.\

"So, what do you think of them?" Chara just appeared out of nowhere. They had a tendency of doing that.

"So far, they seem like good people. I like Matthew better, but that might be because Sammy forcing his will on me is making me biased."

"That makes two of us." Chara looked around, then leaned in closer. "But don't you care about his LOVE?"

"You heard him back there, he hasn't killed anybody. He just probably has a troubled past. He wouldn't be the only one."

Chara smiled. "I'm sure his flaws will become as apparent as Sammy's stupidity."

"Now c'mon Chara, don't say things like that. Can't you find anything good about them?"

"I like Matthew when he's coldly intelligent. Those types of skills are things I can appreciate."

"Eh, good enough." For Chara, that was saying a lot.

Matthew then came up to them. "Hey Frisk, is it ok if I solve the puzzles? It's kinda one of my hobbies, even if a 7 year old could solve them."

"Sure, go ahead." Frisk was just fine watching from the sidelines.

The four humans spent the next 30 minutes solving Papyrus's puzzles. Sammy and Matthew alternated on who would do what. The group also finally got some G from the "Ball" game. Other notable things that happened include Matthew giving a Tough Glove to Chara, and visiting the strange door on the side path. In all the timelines both Frisk and Chara had seen, the door had never opened. Matthew explained that it was home to "Toby", the dog that they had seen throughout their adventures.

Once in Snowdin Town, Matthew bought a Manly Bandana for Frisk, a few Cinnamon Bunnies, and chatted with the shopkeeper about the skeletons for a bit. After, they met back outside.

"Sammy and I are both really tired, and I bet you two are too. We still have enough G to afford a night at the Inn, so how about we sleep there?"

Frisk was actually tired for once. Usually, they were never tired in the Underground. Frisk guessed it was another change caused by the two interlopers.

"Alright, I guess we can spend one night here." Chara also looked kind of tired. It wasn't a good look on them.

"I'll go in and buy the room." Matthew entered the building, then exited about a minute later, motioning for them to come inside. He lead them up the stairs, then unlocked one of the doors with a room key. There was a table, a set of drawers with a lamp at one end, and three beds.

"I'll sleep on the floor." Matthew took off his purple and blue sweatshirt and made a pillow out of it. Frisk and the others climbed into their beds. "Goodnight, everyone.

Matthew turned off the lamp. A faint snoring sound could be heard, but it was soft, and Frisk was too tired to care. They soon fell into a deep sleep.

\---

Frisk awoke later to see Matthew tossing and turning on the floor. The other were still asleep. Frisk got out of bed and gently shook him awake.

"Frisk? Sorry, I guess I woke you up."

"Matthew, are you alright? You looked pale."

"Yeah, I'm fine." He didn't look fine.

"You know..." Frisk hesitated. "There's still space in my bed, if you want."

Matthew looked surprised for a second, then grateful. "Thanks, Frisk."

They both climbed into bed. Frisk thought Matthew looked so peaceful when he was in bed.

"Goodnight, Frisk."

"...Goodnight, Matthew."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friendship when you need it the most...
> 
> If you find any mistakes in my writing, please let me know in the comments. Your input helps me improve as a writer. Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

Chara woke up, once again being the first one awake. Strangely, they actually got a good night of sleep, which was rare these days. Maybe because it's hard when your a semi-ghost to get into a comfortable sleeping position. Sammy was still with his back to Chara, and Frisk...

Chara froze, looking at the other body in the bed. Matthew was sleeping with Frisk?! That was just wrong! Chara had never slept with anyone else! Well, except that one time with Asriel, but that was different! This was just... wrong.

Chara slowly walked toward the bed on the other side. Debating on who to wake first, they chose Matthew first. Frisk would most likely just brush anything Chara said off. Chara roughly shook him awake.

"Chara, just 5 more minutes..."

"What do you think your doing?!" Chara hissed. This seemed to wake Matthew up.

"Oh, I had a bad dream last night, and Frisk invited me to their bed. What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with that?! You can't just sleep with someone you barely know! Frisk isn't your best friend!"

Frisk turned over. "Guys, what are you talking about?"

"Frisk, you can't just invite a stranger into your bed!" Chara's voice was getting higher.

"Chara, Matthew isn't a stranger. Sure, he might not be like Asriel yet, but I still consider him a good friend."

"But Frisk!"

"Besides, why do you care? You're not Frisk's best friend either!" Matthew's words his Chara like a sledgehammer. "Wait, I didn't mean it like-"

"I get it." Chara stormed out of the room, leaving a shocked Frisk and and very guilty looking Matthew.

\---

Outside the inn, Chara felt strange. They felt emotions that were foreign to them. Why did they get so angry? It wasn't that they hated Matthew, at least not that much. Frisk wasn't about to have feelings for Matthew either; though Matthew was slightly attractive, with a nice head of dark brown hair and a clear face, Frisk just wasn't that type of person yet. Forced flirts and dates didn't mean anything. So what was it...

Chara wanted Frisk away from those two. Chara wanted them to be safe. Chara...

Chara cared about them! They hadn't cared about anyone since Asriel! But watching Frisk's journey though the Underground, knowing every one of their actions was forced... it built a sort of kinship between them. Chara actually wanted Frisk to stay safe, to be ok.

As Chara's mind strayed from that topic and to what was coming next, it eventually came around to Sans. God, Chara hated that skeleton. It wasn't that he killed them so many times during Genocide Runs, in fact, that was only thing Chara actually almost respected about him. No, it was that he was so lazy, and easygoing no matter what was going on. Even when they were fighting for their lives, he still couldn't stop himself from falling asleep. That really grated on Chara, and watching it over and over only made it worse.

It was very easy for Chara to get mad at someone.

A few minutes later, Frisk exited the inn. They went straight to Chara, who was sitting in the snow about a meter away.

Frisk sat down next to them. "Are you feeling fine?"

Chara rolled their eyes. "Yeah, just fine and dandy."

"Look, Chara. Matthew didn't mean what he said back there, and he doesn't speak for me on this. I know that I'll never be able to fill in the place Asriel was in, but we can still be best friends... right?"

Chara breathed deeply. They were right, of course. Asriel held a special place in their heart that no one else could ever fill. With Chara's newfound feelings towards Frisk, though, they supposed they could make room for another.

"Frisk, you know I'm not ready to be buddy buddy with anyone right now, and I can barely tolerate those two's presence." Frisk hung their head.

"But..." Chara continued, "I... think I can make an exception for you."

Frisk snapped their head up. "Really?"

"Don't make me regret this," Chara grunted.

Chara swore they could see a few tears coming out of Frisk. "I won't, I promise. I'll try not to annoy you too much with my love and affection."

A little smile tugged at Chara's lips.

\---

"Frisk, you should probably head outside now and talk with Chara. I have a feeling they don't want to see me or Sammy right now."

Frisk nodded and left the room. Matthew turned back to Sammy. "Sammy, we need to talk."

"Yeah, sure. What's up?" Sammy was probably still half asleep. He sure looked that way.

"Do you... feel any remorse for what you've done?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean..." Matthew struggled for the right words. "Ever since we've learned that this is real, do you feel any guilt about your Genocide Runs?"

"Oh." Sammy lowered his head in shame. "Well, kind of."

"What do you mean, kind of?"

"It's like..." Now Sammy was the one looking for the right phrase. "I don't believe that this was a actual world before we got here. Please don't argue with me."

Oh, Matthew was going to argue with him. "What, are you saying that Frisk and Chara's memories aren't real? Are you still treating them like toys to be played with?"

"No, I..." Sammy whipped his head up, a look of pure desperation on his face. "Please, Matthew, my belief in this is the only thing keeping me together. If you convince me that I really did all those horrific things to actual people... I might just break inside."

Matthew understood. He himself had broken long ago. What he was now was nothing but a memory, a shadow of who he used to be. He didn't want the same thing to happen to his bro. "Alright, I'll lay off. Just try and apologize to them sooner rather then later, alright? They deserve it."

Sammy nodded. Then he and Matthew both left the room.

\---

"HUMANS. ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU ABOUT SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS."

As Papyrus droned on though dialogue Sammy had heard a thousand times, he found his mind wandering once again. He thought back to when he said sorry to Frisk and Chara.

"Thank you, Sammy. I really appreciate this. I'm sure that both of us can move past this and become good friends."

Chara, however, just gave an annoyed grunt. They still sometimes shot looks at Sammy with equal parts of anger and... disappointment? Their face was hard to read.

Sammy was so deep in these thoughts that they almost jumped 7 feet in the air when they went into battle mode. What surprised Sammy more, however, was their soul. It grown to about half size! Equal parts of red and green, giving him a maximum of 10 HP.

Matthew also had about half a soul, though his half was red and deep purple. His LV had gone up to 5, and his max HP was 18. His actual HP was at 28, however, because they slept at the inn.

While hovering over the four buttons, Matthew seemed to pause for a second. He then proceeded to smash and destroy all four of them.

"Don't want to be a hypocrite, huh Sammy? Making you guys do what I want doesn't seem right to me."

Sammy suddenly felt free to do whatever he wanted. He admitted, being controlled wasn't a pleasant experience. It was partly the reason why he apologized.

Frisk, Matthew and Sammy all showed Mercy to Papyrus anyway, while Chara just did nothing.

And then the bones came.

Chara and Frisk both stayed completely still immediately, because they knew what was coming. The blue bones passed through them harmlessly. Sammy also stayed still, taking no damage. Matthew, however, got a good smack from a bone before staying still. It only left a light bruise.

Smash! All four of them looked like lead weights were dragging them down. Their souls were all blue.

A small bone came rushing towards them. Chara and Frisk jumped over with ease. Sammy leaped as hard as he could, finding that he could jump much higher then he thought he could.

Matthew was still trying to figure out why he was so heavy, not seeing the bone coming towards him. Finding it too late, he instinctively put his hands out to try and stop it.

And then the bone shattered.

Matthew found himself with a purple bone in his hands, exactly like the ones Papyrus was throwing at him. It had stopped the attack before it hit him.

Matthew looked in awe, first at himself, then at Sammy.

And then Sammy realized he was holding a bone too.

It was bright green, a healing item. Somehow Sammy knew that it would heal 1 HP. It was his bone, one that he made from the magic in his soul.

"The powers of Perseverance and Kindness," Sammy whispered. The ability to recreate others attacks, and the ability to heal others and themselves. Maybe not as good as the power to wield all others, and the power to reverse time, known as determination, but it was still cool.

The four looked back at Papyrus. One with Kindness. One with Perseverance.

And two with Determination.

\---

As Matthew sat with Sans at Grillby's, he still wondered if this was actually real.

After the fight with Papyrus, (which was easy due to their newfound powers,) Matthew was the one to go on the date with him. He said as little as possible, and finally got to try his spaghetti. The text was right; the flavor really was indescribable.

Once that was done, they traveled to Sans's next sentry station, where he offered if one of them wanted to go to Grillby's. Matthew, being the oldest and the leader, took on this heavy burden.

The shortcut was fun to take.

But now, sitting next to their favorite character in any video game, watching him comb his skull? It really made him question a few things, including his sanity.

"So Sans," Matthew started, "have you ever heard of a talking flower?"

Sans looked surprised. "yeah, i have."

"Ah, good. So you know about the echo flowers. Endlessly repeating what the last person said over and over..." Sans was staring intently at Matthew now.

"I would keep Papyrus away from them if I were you. Some people like to pull pranks using them, you know?"

"right." Sans now looked suspicious as all hell, which was what Matthew was trying to get at.

"So. Have you been noticing a lot of time distortions lately?" This sent Sans over the edge.

"follow me. now." Matthew obeyed, and they took a shortcut to Sans' secret lab.

"alright then." His eye sockets were pure black now. "what do you know about these distortions, huh?"

"What do I know? The better question is, what don't I know about them." Matthew knew he was stretching the games limits now, but he felt like Sans was one of the few people in-game that could actually help them out.

"then tell me everything you know."

\---

Sans paced back and forth across the lab, looked pretty pissed off. Pissed off at Frisk, at Chara, at Sammy, and maybe even Matthew too. Knowing that he died by all their hands does make a relationship start off kinda rocky.

"so, how do we stop these resets from happening?"

"In the short term, we can't. Killing Frisk or Chara will just make them reset, at least until the power is out of their hands."

"yes, after we break the barrier. but then who does that power go to?"

"That would be me and Sammy. Remember, he was the one who took away all your happy endings in the first place."

Sans' bone hands tightened into fists. "i swear, when i see that kid again..."

"Sans, please." Matthew pulled him off to the side. "I know that you won't see it my way, but he really does feel bad for his actions now. Look, I know you can't trust him. But do you trust me?"

Sans had to think for a moment. Sure, sharing all this information did warrant some trust, but he really wasn't in the trusting mood right now. "a bit, i guess."

"Then trust me to stop him. I promise, I will never let him reset this world ever again. No one should experience the hell that you've been through."

Matthew opened the door outside. "I won't make you do anything, but please... try not to do anything rash, alright?"

"yeah, yeah." Matthew left. All this new information confirmed Sans' worst suspicions, but still...

It was too much. Too much information at once. He needed time to brood on it.

He needed time to think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The smiley trashbag gets involved...
> 
> If you see any mistakes in my writing, please let me know in the comments. Your input helps me improve as a writer. Thanks for reading!
> 
> Also, High School has just started up for me again, so updates may come few and far between. I promise that I'll try my best to work on this, though.


	6. Chapter 6

Waterfall. Being completely honest, it was probably the worst part of the Underground. It was just that whenever Undyne wasn't chasing them, it was so incredibly boring.

Little did Frisk know, Waterfall was the place where all hell would break loose, where tensions would finally snap, and events that would change their whole adventure.

As usual, it started with Chara.

\---

They had already gotten most of what they needed from Waterfall. Frisk was wearing the Old Tutu, and Chara had Ballet Shoes on. "Now, we just need the dog to absorb the Legendary Artifact, and we should be good," Matthew commented.

"Why do we need to do that? It's just doing something useless and wasting our time." Chara had been object to that the entire time they had been in Waterfall.

"I told you, I can't say yet. All I can tell you is that you'll understand someday, and you need to trust me now as your leader."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't be the leader anymore!"

This earned a silence from the whole group. Matthew's mouth started working first. "So you think that you should be the leader?" He said quietly.

"Yeah, because at least I wouldn't be keeping everyone in the dark!" Chara's red eyes started shining brighter.

"Well at least I do something! All I see you do is argue and do nothing! What have you done for us so far?!"

"Guys, stop fighting!" Frisk whined.

"Oh no, he's going to blow..." Sammy whispered, terrified.

"Oh, please. You act like you've been leading us this whole time, that we would never have made it without you, but you've really just been grasping at straws. You're not smart, you're not strong."

"Chara, no!" Sammy cried out.

"You're nothing."

\---

Smack! The sharp sound of knuckle against jaw could be heard as Chara went flying. They slammed against the wall, dazed.

"Damn, it's bad." Sammy and Frisk were only able to watch as Matthew walked towards Chara... menacingly.

"All you've ever done is hurt people. You deserve this, and you know it." Matthew lifted Chara back up, then punched them back down to the ground.

"Matthew, please!" Frisk pleaded, "Stop it!"

When Matthew had gotten close to Chara again, there was a flash of red.

Then his chest started bleeding across the slash mark.

Chara was holding a red dagger, dripping with blood. Their eyes were burning with hate. Matthew quickly jumped back and summoned a purple dagger of his own.

"C'mon, Matthew! Calm down!" Sammy seemed to be snapped out of their stupor. He tugged at his sweater.

Matthew simply kicked him out of the way.

Clang! The sound of Determination against Perseverance echoed off the stone walls, as Matthew and Chara struggled to overpower each other.

Chara suddenly slashed down at his leg, leaving a nasty cut on his thigh. Matthew answered by swiping up at Chara's face, only cutting off a tuft of hair.

They then circled around one another, testing themselves. Chara had the upper hand at first, but Matthew was learning their style, reading their movements. His larger soul and superior LV also gave him an advantage.

Chara lunged, going for a neck swipe. Matthew simply moved out of they way, grabbed their hands, and flipped them over using their momentum.

Using the advantage, Matthew quickly kicked the knife out of Chara's hands, pinned them to the floor, and held their own knife to their throat.

"Matthew..." He looked up at the sound of the voice. Frisk had no tears, had no determination.

The only look on their face was fear.

Looking at Frisk like that, it snapped Matthew out of their anger. They looked at Chara, realizing what they had done. Their grip lessened.

Chara used this opportunity to kick Matthew in the balls. He yelped like a wounded puppy, rolling on the floor in pain. Chara quickly pinned Matthew, using the exact same hold he used a few moments ago.

"Oh, how the tables have turned, haven't they?" Chara's eyes were still like red floodlights.

"Please..." Matthew gasped, "I'm sorry... Just please don't kill me..."

In his eyes there was no more hate, no more anger. All Chara saw was fear... and regret. They groaned, releasing Matthew and pushing off him in disgust.

Matthew lifted themselves up, looked at everyone in sorrow, then ran away, back where they had come from.

"Well, that was fun," Chara said as them brushed themselves off.

"Chara, go after him!" Frisk had run over to Sammy, who was still knocked out cold against the wall.

"What's the point, Frisk? He tried to kill me!" Chara's eyes had dimmed, but they were still glaring.

"Look, I know you hate to admit it, but he is a real help to all of us. Now you can either deal with him, or with Sammy."

"...Fine. But just this once!" Chara started jogging after Matthew.

\---

Chara finally found him sitting in the bright water area, his legs hanging over the ledge. They came and stood behind him.

"I'm surprised," he said, "I thought that no one would go looking for me for a while, much less you."

"Thank Frisk, they were the one that told me to come find you."

"Chara... I'm so sorry. For everything."

Chara breathed deeply. They had seen this type of emotion breakdown before. Asriel had come crying to them a lot back then. Chara sat down next to him.

"At first, I didn't even know you. You were just a name echoed by Asriel. I thought you were no more relevant then any other fallen child." This sounded like a long story, so Chara just waited.

"Then, I learned more about you, like your hatred of humanity. That type of thinking was so foreign to me, that I easily dismissed you as the antagonist, the villain of the story." Pretty typical.

"But one day, while reading Tumblr online, something clicked. Watching the cruelty of others, it gave me a similar hatred of others. I understood your reasoning." He was getting close.

"However, just hating something else, a select group, is hypocritical. I also realized that I hated myself. I hated what I was." Bingo.

"I saw your killing at the end of the Genocide Run as not a senseless murder, but justice being served. I still hated you, though. I still couldn't forgive you for one thing. Do you know what that is?" Chara shook their head.

Matthew finally looked up at Chara. "You condemned the prince of the Underground, Asriel Dreemurr, to a lifetime of torture as Flowey. I could never forget that."

"I see." Chara wanted to scream at him, to yell out that it was Asriel, not them that got them killed. But as they were forced to think about, Chara realized that he was right. In their excitement of taking revenge on humanity, they had expected Asriel to be something they weren't. If they had just done things Asriel's way...

"And when you kept questioning me, that was the match that lit the fuse box. I lashed out, and I guess I went too far. I'm so sorry, Chara."

They sat side by side for a few moments. Chara spoke first. "Have you heard the story of the first human to fall down here?"

Matthew looked surprised, then grinned a little. "A little bit. Why?"

"Well, you told me a bit of your story, so it's only fair that I tell you a bit of mine." Chara still remembered it like it was yesterday.

"Once upon a time, a child climbed Mt. Ebott..."

\---

"... and they remained a ghost for a long time."

Chara had told nothing that Matthew hadn't already known, but they had described each scene with much more clarity and detail. Matthew appreciated it.

As they stood to leave, Matthew paused for a moment. "You know, Chara," he began, "I have a trick that helps whenever you feel really angry at humanity.

"And what's that?"

"Whenever you feel like everyone does nothing but hate, try and remember the good people out there. The people that risk their lives for others, and help them out of kindness. I mean, I'm not that bad, am I?"

"Not unless you're around Sans. Then your insufferable!" Chara joked.

"Aw, c'mon! I'm just handing out everyone's pun-ishments!"

They laughed for a bit, then walked back to Frisk and Sammy a few rooms away. Both were already standing up, waiting for them.

"You all good?" Sammy asked tentatively.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry for scaring all you guys.

"Uh, guys?" Chara was staring behind them. "What's that?"

They all looked around to find a big grey door, starkly contrasting to the dark blue of the walls. It looked very out of place.

"Oh my god!" Matthew was practically jumping up and down in excitement. "This is so rare! The odds are one in a hundred!"

He turned to face everyone else. "Guys, behind that door lies the last remains of the former Royal Scientist. His name has been stricken from all records, but there may be a way to bring him back! I'll have to talk to Sans later about this."

"Chara grabbed Matthews shoulders and shook him a bit. "Matthew, what are you talking about?"

He stared intently at Chara. "Chara, I know you don't like this, but please trust me for a bit. It'll all make sense soon, I promise."

There it was again. This was what all started this whole fight. But after their little "talk", Chara felt different about Matthew.

"Alright, I trust you. But you better not make us regret this!"

"Alright, guys! Let's go!" They set out for Hotland, once again a group, once again filled with renewed vigor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Renewed Bonds...
> 
> If you find any mistakes, please let me know in the comments. Recommendations are always welcome to help me improve my work. Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

The rest of the trip through Waterfall was rather uneventful. Other then the battle with Mad Dummy, a visit to Napstablook, a artifact-absorbing dog, and a session of running with Undyne, ending with a course on why water is important and a date with a fish.

Matthew was checking out his new Cloudy Glasses and Torn Notebook as they crossed the bridge again towards the lab.

"Y'know, using these just seem right to me. I guess it's because they're the weapons of Perseverance?" He had already written "Matthew" in big letters on the front. He had also been taking some mysterious notes while they traveled. "Sammy, I'm guessing you want the Frying Pan and Stained Apron?"

"Yeah, I'm really excited. I want to see how they augment my healing powers!" Their souls had grown to about three quarters of a regular one. Matthew was also at LV 9, which made the group slightly uncomfortable, but he didn't seem to be affected by it.

They stopped in front of the steel double doors, which promptly opened wide, showing the darkness within.

The group had no hesitation, going in like they had done it a thousand times. Maybe because two of them had.

"I always thought it was creepy, with Alphys watching us all the time on the cameras."

"Same, Chara. I don't like the idea of someone watching me without me knowing." Matthew didn't like surprises either.

As the yellow dinosaur and Royal Scientist Alphys came and started freaking out, Matthew's mind began to wander once again. He sure would like to have a real conversation with some as intelligent as Alphys. The problem was, while the game constricted them, Alphys would just say the same bland stuff over and over again. If the binds were ever released, though, he'd love to have an intellectual talk with her about science stuff.

A loud banging interrupted his train of thought. Frisk and Sammy rolled their eyes, while Chara and Matthew groaned. Mettaton, the game show robot, wheeled in.

Matthew covered his ears, droning out the sounds. Matthew loved most of the characters in Undertale, but he didn't like Mettaton.

Then everything went dark. A screen projected from Mettaton, showing A, B, C, and D.

"LET'S START WITH AN EASY ONE!" The question appeared above the letters. "What's the prize for answering correctly?"

\---

"Well, that wasn't very fun," Frisk admitted as they walked out of the lab. Most of the questions were easy, and the others Alphys had gestured on which was correct.

"This is worthless!" Matthew complained as he looked as the newly upgraded phone. "There's no Tumblr or Youtube!"

"Tumblr? Youtube?" Chara looked confused.

"They were things back where we come from. Tumblr was where you could mostly find fanart, and Youtube was where you watch videos posted online for others to see," Sammy explained. "Matthew used them a lot when he was bored."

"Yeah, mostly pictures of you, Frisk, and Asriel, in fact. You'd be amazed by how well people can draw you guys." Matthew breathed a short sigh of relief when Chara and Frisk weren't angry. He didn't want them to get the wrong idea.

"Well... do people... like us in your world?" Frisk asked shyly.

"Frisk, most people really like you. The only exceptions are drawing of you during a Geno Run, and people who don't understand that you're gender neutral." Frisk nodded, like they expected that to happen.

"As for Asriel, well everybody loves him. A real dreamer, he is." He laughed at his own pun.

"And Chara. Most people don't really like you. You see, when you kill off their in-game sprite, players tend to get angry, or as people my age call it, 'salty'."

"But you called it justic-"

"However!" Matthew interupted, "There does exist a devoted fanbase to you. They see your actions during the genocide run as either insanity caused by watching Frisk kill everyone, or justice like I see it."

"Better." Chara looked pleased at this knowledge that people actually liked them.

"Yeah. I'd show you pictures of yourself, but I don't have my own phone right now. Too bad that by the time I'll have it, we'll never see each other again, right?"

Sammy looked surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Don't you remember the entire reason why we're doing this? It's all so we can go home! We can't stay here!"

"But Matthew..." Sammy bit his lip. "I want to stay here."

"Really? Don't you want to be back in the real world?"

"Matthew, this is a real world! And, you know... after you ran away, Frisk and I talked a bit. I... don't think I could stand leaving them."

Matthew was confused for a moment, then understood. There was nothing really to go back to in the real world. They had no real friends. Chara and Frisk were the closest thing they've ever had to that.

"Ok, I won't stop you. I'll even wish you good luck on whatever lies ahead. Just... remember me once in a while, alright?"

"Bro, I'll never forget you."

Chara coughed. "I hate to interrupt this endearing moment, but I wanted to ask. Matthew, what did you tell Alphys back there, before you caught up to us?"

"Oh, just a little project I needed her to work on. It's going to be awesome." It was obviously some science stuff, so the rest of the group stayed silent.

\---

Frisk noticed that as they got further and further through Hotland, Matthew got more and more involved in his notebook. He only payed attention to other things during a puzzle, or a rare monster battle, like the Royal Guards and Muffet. In fact, all he had done during that fight was eat the donut, which ended it almost too quickly. He didn't seem to write the same thing all the time, either. Sometimes, Frisk heard little tidbits, like "They have to stay hidden," or "The power of a GOD." It was very confusing.

"Hey Matthew, does this look good on me? I don't want any weird remarks from Sans." Frisk watched Matthew's head snap up, finally noticing that Sammy held the Frying Pan and wore the Stained Apron.

"Looking fine, bro. The true weapons of Kindness." This time, he didn't keep writing. The date with Sans had finally got his attention.

"Hey Chara, if you don't want to see Sans, you can go and buy yourself and Frisk a Cowboy Hat and Empty Gun in the hallway," Matthew offered.

"Thanks, but I think I'll come along. Got to get along with Sans sometime, am I right?" This surprised everyone, including Matthew. They walked up to Sans, leaning against the hotel wall.

"hey. i heard you're going to the core. how about grabbing some dinner with me first?"

"Sure, why not." Matthew looked like he kept his cool, but Frisk knew he was secretly fanboying over Sans.

"great, thanks for treating me. over here, i know a shortcut." They followed, sort of phasing through the wall, or something.

They all sat down at a table, with each person on a side, except for Matthew and Sammy who sat together.

"so, i bet you're expecting me to talk about how your journey's almost over, huh?" Frisk and Chara's heads perked up. "what? thought i'd do something different this time."

Sans folded his mittens together on the table. "so, i was hanging out with one of you, when he started talking about some confusing things." Everyone else glared at Matthew.

"he started talking about timeline distortions and all that. said that you guys were the ones to blame." Sans turned his head away.

"now, he said not to make any rash decisions yet. and you know me, nothing gets under my skin." Nobody laughed.

"but i agreed. you know what would have happened if he hadn't said anything?" The no eyes face turned to meet them.

"kiddos, you'd be dead where you stand." He got up, and walked a few feet away.

"well, that's all. take care of yourself, kiddos, because someone really cares about you." He walked away.

\---

"So, I'm going to go get a Cowboy Hat and Empty Gun for Chara and Frisk. Bro, can I trust you to get a room for us?" Sammy nodded. "Good. Here's 200 G."

Matthew walked out of the hotel, while Sammy wordlessly went up to the attendant and handed over 200 G. "Not the talking type, huh? Here's your key."

Sammy motioned for Frisk and Chara to follow, then led them to their room. Inside was one huge bed.

"Hope you guys are fine sleeping together." As Frisk went over to check out the bed, Chara pulled Sammy aside.

"Look, Sammy. About what happened back in the Ruins... I'm sorry. The past is something you need to remember, not fight against. If there's anything you want to know, just ask me."

"Wow, Chara, what happened to you? You aren't the big mean person I remember!" This got a little laugh from Chara.

"But, there are two things I want to ask. First, what was Asriel like back then?"

Chara sighed. "Asriel... was the nicest person I've ever met. He was kind, endearing, and a big dork. Sometimes he was too kind for his own good. Kind of like you sometimes."

"Wow. Second... can you forgive me for what I've done?"

This got an even bigger sigh from Chara. "Look, I hated you for what you did. Making someone kill everyone they love over and over is inexcusable." Sammy hung his head.

"But. If Frisk had forgiven you, which they obviously have, I guess I can do that same."

A tear formed in Sammy's eyes. "Thank you, Chara."

"It's nothing, you big dork."

Matthew walked in at that moment. "Merry Christmas, guys!" He lightly threw a gun at Chara, and a hat at Frisk.

"Ye haw, I'm a cowboy!" Frisk imitated riding a horse, which earned a few laughs.

Matthew yawned. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired. Let's go to bed."

They all climbed in, with Sammy on one end, then Frisk, then Matthew, and finally Chara on the other after they turned off the lights.

"Goodnight, everyone." Everyone else murmured assent. Then Matthew said the one thing everyone else was to afraid to say. "I love all of you guys."

Then they promptly fell asleep.

\---

Matthew woke up about four hours later, but not from a nightmare. They looked around, seeing Frisk and Chara sleeping peacefully. He smiled.

Then Frisk turned, placing their hand on Matthew's chest. He froze for a moment, then relaxed, putting his hand over Frisk's.

About a minute later, Chara did the same, turning the other way and placing their hand next to Frisk's. Matthew put their hands together and gave them a little squeeze, like he was a father and they were his kids.

They were family.

He was going to miss them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end in sight...
> 
> Please, feel free to give me suggestions to my writing in the comments. Constructive criticism is always welcome here. Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

Matthew missed the music that came with the CORE. Even though it was still exciting, looking at all the complex machinery that surrounded them, something about the song had just made it so much better.

"Wait, where's all the monsters here? I thought that they were mercenaries." Matthew would have been confused as Sammy was, if he hadn't asked himself the same question a few minutes ago.

"I bet Mettaton was all like 'You need to fight these humans!' but they were all like 'but we refused.'" At that last part Matthew struck a dramatic pose.

"You're almost as much of a dork as Sammy is sometimes, you know that?" Chara still had a smile on their face, though.

They walked the hallways, making jokes of a similar caliber as they navigated the CORE. Even Chara occasionally told one. Before they knew it. they were at the illuminated hallway that led to New Home.

Everyone groaned. No one liked the idea of dancing with Mettaton.

"I'll do it." Frisk and Matthew had both said the same thing simultaneously. They looked at each other, then both shrugged.

"The dancing duo?" Matthew asked.

"Mettaton won't stand a chance!" Frisk agreed.

They walked together, looking confident as the door closed behind them.

\---

The next ten minutes were, like many parts of the trip through the Underground, a blur. Frisk could only remember Mettaton, a disco ball, and Matthew.

Matthew had done surprisingly well during the "fight". After letting Frisk guide them through the dances for a bit, he got into the spirit, even being the lead in some moves. He was very nimble and quick when he wanted to be.

He had still looked relieved, however, when Mettaton finally ran out of batteries. The group of four was now walking down the final neon hall towards the elevator, with Alphys trailing behind them.

"Oh, and one more thing." The yellow dinosaur brought out something from one of their lab pockets. "Matthew, I made you the thing."

"Ah, great job, Alphys! This is perfect!" The scientist... blushed?

"My pleasure, Matthew. If this works, it could bring us into whole new fields of science!" Alphys then walked away, leaving them as they filed into the elevator.

"So Matthew, what is that?" Chara tilted their head, trying to get a better look at it.

Frisk, being the closest one to Matthew, saw the pendant first. It was shaped just like the Heart Locket, only instead of being gold, it was clear as crystal.

"This," Matthew said as he held the pendant out, "is the key to your success. It may not be much right now, but it will soon most likely be the most powerful magic artifact this world has ever seen."

"Oh, really?" Sammy asked, his eyes in wonder.

"Yes. This device is capable of capturing all the magic that will be released when the Barrier is broken. I'm not entirely sure what you're going to do with it, but it should help out in whatever you do on the surface." Matthew hung the pendant around his neck.

The elevator stopped, opening to show a huge sprawling city before them. They walked out, looking flabbergasted at the sheer size of the city.

"Oh, that reminds me. I'll be right back, I need to do something. He backtracked into the elevator, the doors closing behind him.

"So..." Frisk started, "What now?"

\---

Chara sat against the stone wall, flipping the Toy Knife and catching it with their thumb and forefinger. They had been waiting for what, half an hour? It was hard to keep track of time here, when nothing changed with the hours.

The elevator walls shook rapidly. Something was shooting up the shaft, and fast. A few seconds later, the doors slammed open, thick with green vines. Matthew stumbled out.

"Bro, what happened? What did you do?"

"Date... True Lab... Scary." It was all Matthew could say before stumbling into Chara. They barely caught him.

"Hey, everything's fine. Just relax. It's all over," Chara said with a softness that rivaled Frisk's. Chara knew better then anyone about the horrors that lay in the True Lab.

"Matthew lay down, looking up at Chara. "Here, have this," he said while smiling weakly.

A piece of a soul, bright red, floated up to Chara. They held it in their hands.

Haha, very funny, Matthew." They looked down to see a dead serious face.

"No, really. I don't need it anymore, and I think this belongs to you more then it does to me." He showed his own purple soul, which was now fully formed.

LV 13. HP 68.

Chara summoned their own fragment, which promptly fused with the other to form half a soul.

"He's right. I don't need my piece anymore either. Here, Frisk." Sammy handed over his soul part, adding to Frisk's.

"So, are you ready to hear the Undertale, meet the Pun Master, and fight the Absolute God of Hyperdeath?" Matthew's voice gave just the right edge of mysteriousness. He would make a good storyteller.

Chara looked around, nodding with each person before looking back down at Matthew. "As ready as we'll ever be."

\---

"Aw, Chara. You look kinda cute wearing that!" Chara just rolled their eyes at Matthew.

They were at Chara's old room in New Home. After hearing all the monsters and receiving judgement, Matthew had realized that they had forgotten about the Heart Locket and the Worn Dagger. Matthew had latched the locket on them after taking off the sweatshirt they had been wearing for so long.

"Frisk, shouldn't you be wearing something more... protected? The stick and bandage don't really help."

"Chara, we're going against a god. I don't think the items we wear will matter."

As they started walking back to the judgement hall, Matthew's heart sank. He had just remembered the promise he made long ago, a promise that he didn't know how to keep.

"So, are you ready to see your best friend again?" Matthew decided to start off easy.

"Matthew, what kind of question is that?" They had a point. It was a dumb question.

"Yeah, I guess. But uh, listen Chara. About that promise I made way back then... I don't really know how to bring Asriel back permanently. I'm sorry."

Chara didn't look surprised at all. "Yeah, I knew that. It's fine. Flowey is good enough."

Now Matthew was the one surprised. "Wait, you knew?"

"Yeah, your lying face is terrible, you know that?"

Matthew's lying face was actually very good, but he let it slide. Chara was just excellent at reading other people.

They had reached the Judgement Hall. Funny, it had seemed like a lifetime ago that Frisk fought Sans.

"Ah, the place where we all first met. Brings back some memories, huh?"

"I remember being really angry at you two, for good reasons."

"Yeah, but you're always angry, aren't you Chara?" Frisk was smiling, showing that they were just jesting.

Matthew felt a few tears coming. "Aw damn it, I'm going to miss you guys."

"And we'll miss you too, bro. Just remember us, and remember that we'll never forget you."

\---

Everything was going mostly normal. That was why Sammy was so surprised when they found Toriel waiting outside the Throne Room, pacing back and forth.

"My children!" She rushed over to them, checking each and every one of them. "Are you alright? Did anything happen to you?"

Luckily, Matthew had eaten a few healing items before they had continued, so no one looked seriously hurt.

"After you had left, I could not stop thinking about what could happen to you. So I chose to go on ahead, so you would not have to face Asgore alone.

She turned, keeping everyone behind her. "Stay back, children. I will keep you safe."

They entered the throne room together. Asgore, the king of monsterkind, had his back to them, watering the flowers.

"Oh? Is someone there? Just a moment, I have almost finished watering these flowers."

After a few seconds, he turned around. "Howdy! How can I-"

He backed away a few steps."T-Tori?"

"Do not 'Tori' me, Dreemurr!"

"Dad!" Chara came running forward, much to the dismay of Toriel.

"Chara?" He pulled them into a hug. "I thought I had lost you!"

"Look, as much as this is endearing, we didn't come here just for a family reunion. Can we see the barrier?" Just like his bro, straight and to the point.

"Yeah, dad. My friends really want to see the barrier. Hug time can come later." Sammy supposed that he didn't count, considering their past talks.

"Well, it is right past here... I suppose it wouldn't hurt to look for a bit. Come, follow me." Asgore walked towards the other exit.

Sammy shot a look at Matthew, who looked right back and simply nodded. He understood.

Things might have been a little different now, but there was still only one way to break the barrier.

Still only one way for this to end.

\---

Matthew kept back in the shadows as everyone came. He couldn't afford to get attached any more to the characters here. He had enough depression as it was. If he started truly caring about anyone here, then never saw them again? It would break his heart.

"Oh, hey man!" Matthew looked around. Monster Kid was standing right in front of him.

"Papyrus said there was a big party here, and I guess you were invited too! I mean, it looks like everyone in the Underground is here!" He was right. There was a lot of monsters here.

"Wait, everyone?" He starting listening in to conversations. Matthew could barely hear out what Alphys was asking.

"A tiny flower?"

"Oh, shi-"

BANG!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If they want to win...
> 
> Please put any suggestions you have in the comments section. Ideas for improvement in my writing are always appreciated. Thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

Chara could only watch as their family, friends, and everyone in the underground painfully struggled against the grip of the thorny vines. Some could say that Flowey was a monster for doing this, but not Chara. Neither could Frisk, for that matter. Not when they had done such similar things to them.

"You IDIOTS. While you guys were having your little party..."

"I took the human SOULS! And now, not only will those be under my power, but your friend's souls are all mine, too!"

Chara was thinking of something smart to say, like "Hey Flowey, remember me?" when he turned to face them.

"Howdy, Chara! Nice seeing you here." He said it with such a calm demeanor that Chara instantly knew something was wrong.

Matthew was looking worried too. "Shouldn't you be more surprised?" He asked cautiously.

"Oh, I was at first. But when someone you take away someone's best friend, it gets old real fast."

"Flowey, I'm right here." Chara couldn't afford to call them Asriel yet. It was too soon.

"Y-you may be Chara, but you aren't my best friend." Ouch. Chara guessed this is what it felt like to be Asriel back when Chara was more... hateful.

"You let these two change you into something else, Chara! You aren't the same anymore!"

"You think Matthew and Sammy made me this way? I chose to change, they didn't force it on me!" The idea that someone could force Chara to do anything was just absurd.

"Well, I've come to save you, Chara. No matter what it takes!" Everything got brighter, until Chara had to close their eyes.

They could sense the vines around them retract.

They knew what happened.

\---

Asriel Dreemurr was the son of Asgore and Toriel Dreemurr, and the Prince of the Underground. He was to inherit the throne when he was of age and his father died, but Asriel's untimely death caused the end of the succession line.

Asriel looked like a small white humanoid goat, just like his parents. Although he looked only twelve or thirteen, Asriel had been alive for around 25 years, as monsters aged slower then humans.

The young prince had been wandering around the Ruins one fateful day when they encountered the first fallen human to arrive since before the Barrier was created. He had quickly made friends with them, eventually making a promise with them.

The human would poison themself, allowing Asriel to absorb the human's soul.

They would travel together to the surface.

And they would gather enough souls to break the barrier.

But fate was not with them that day.

No one knows what happened on the surface, but Asriel came back mortally wounded, carrying the dead human in their arms.

He had fallen to the floor, slowly turning to dust.

And yet he didn't die.

Asriel was reborn as Flowey, a golden flower filled with Determination. He soon found that he had the power to Reset, to turn back time.

So the world became his plaything.

Without any emotions to guide him, Flowey became heartless, torturing monsters and fallen humans in the Underground just for the fun of it. But he became bored. One day he let more time pass then he ever had.

And someone more determined then he entered the Underground.

Everyone's memories become hazy at that time. Like there are spots of time that they should remember, but don't. What Flowey remembered, however, was that the human named Frisk had killed everyone in the Underground.

And there were four humans now.

One of them, Asriel soon found, was the first fallen human. They had come back from the dead, somehow. But they were not the same person Asriel remembered them to be. So they swore to bring them back.

He had called a skeleton named Papyrus and told him that a party was happening at the Barrier. He said to invite every monster he knew there. While the "party" was going on, he stole six human souls.

Then he sprung his trap.

Now, he had the powers of a god at his disposal. He could destroy the world and time itself.

And only four humans stood in his way.

\---

" _Huh, the fanfic artists nailed Asriel,"_ Matthew thought. They had got it all down, the color of white fur, the green and yellow sweater, the little tail. When he turned around, Matthew could see that they had nailed the face too.

"Howdy! Chara, are you there? It's me, your best friend!" Matthew instinctively covered their eyes.

" **ASRIEL DREEMURR."**

"It's the end," Chara narrated. Asriel was floating above them, a fully grown adult who would've towered over them even if he wasn't three feet in the air.

"Chara, remember who you are! You don't belong to them, you belong to ME!"

Rainbows filled the air, showering the whole battle with colors.

" **STAR BLAZING!"**

Magical stars fell from the sky, covering the area.

Frisk held on to the hopes of saving their friends, and the dreams of a better life.

Chara held on to the hopes of bringing back their best friend, and the dreams of the surface.

Sammy held on to the hopes of helping his friends, and the dreams of the future.

But Matthew? He had no hopes. He had no dreams. Those disappeared long ago. Without anything keeping him going, how could he win?

**"SHOCKER BREAKER!"**

The lightning struck Matthew, stunning him. He fell to his knees.

"Bro!" He heard Sammy call out.

" **CHAOS SABER!"**

The sword struck Matthew in the back, sending him flying. He could definitely feel blood.

"Matthew, no!" Frisk yelled.

**"CHAOS BUSTER!"**

The cannon hit Matthew with the force of a sun, almost instantly killing him. He fell to the floor, vision blurring.

" _Why go on?"_ he thought. _"It's nothing but pain and suffering."_

"Matthew, get up! I need you!" It was Sammy.

"Matthew, we need you!" That was Frisk.

"Everyone needs you," said Chara.

They... they were right. Even if he couldn't find a reason to keep going, other people still needed him. He had to stay alive, for them. He had to...

He had to Persevere.

Matthew got up, staggering a bit. Frisk and Chara hurried over, keeping him steady.

"That's enough fun. It's time to purge this timeline once and for all!"

A giant head appeared in front of them, sucking everything in. There was no way to dodge it. _"We have to keep our Perseverance."_

_"We have to stay Determined."_

After his body almost gave out, the head disappeared in a flash of light. Asriel seemed surprised.

"Wow. You all really are something special. But don't get cocky, because up until now I've only been using a fraction of my real power! Let's see how good your souls are against this!"

\---

Sammy was alone. Alone in the darkness against Asriel. Matthew, Frisk, Chara...

They were all gone.

"How can you beat me without the help of your friends?" Asriel taunted. "Go ahead, cry out into the darkness!"

Sammy remembered long ago, when he and Matthew were little, when things were good and none of the bad things had happened yet. It was the first day of school, and a few older kids had been mean to Sammy. Matthew watched while he cried.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked. "I could've helped you!"

"I- I didn't want to bother you." Sammy choked out between sobs.

"Sammy, that could never happen. If you ever need help, ever, just call me. I promise, I'll be there."

"Matthew, help me! I need you, bro!" He called out into the darkness.

There was no response.

"But nobody-"

"Sammy!" The voice was faint, but he could hear it. "Hang in there, Sammy!"

"Matthew, what do I do?" Sammy asked.

"SAVE them, bro! Save Undyne, and we'll SAVE the others!"

Sammy turned back to Asriel. Reaching into the depths of his soul, he found Undyne's. Sammy decided to get a little innovative.

"Undyne, Papyrus is missing his cooking lesson!"

BAM! Undyne's face came clearly into view. "I'll teach him a lesson, punk!"

\---

Frisk found Alphys' soul in Asriel's. Hearing Sammy free Undyne's that easily, Frisk wondered if they could do it too.

"Alphys, Undyne wants to go out on a date with you!"

The memories came rushing back. "R-really? Thanks, Frisk! I'll try my best!"

\---

Matthew had the two skeletons to deal with. As he was incredibly biased, he focused on Sans.

"Look, I want to fight you, but I'm too lazy right now. You're too Sans-ational."

"heh, nice one, kid. i'll get Papyrus, don't you worry."

\---

Chara had Asgore and Toriel. It was pretty easy, considering that they were their child.

"Mom, Dad! Don't you remember me? It's me, Chara!"

BAM! "Of course we remember you, my child!"

"Go, Chara. We believe in you."

Chara went back to the real world, where Frisk, Matthew and Sammy had already found them. Chara simply looked at each of them, with each person giving a nod.

Matthew went first. "Asriel, please. We need to stop this!"

Sammy stepped forward before Asriel could offer a rebuttal. "Asriel, I want to see you. The real you."

It was Frisk's turn. "Asriel, you know me. We can talk this out, can't we?"

Chara waited a bit for the tears to start falling, on both sides. "Azzy. I need my best friend. Please, I need my best friend."

"Chara... I'm so lonely. Chara..."

A flash, then a goat. "Chara, I need you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...they'll need Hopes and Dreams...
> 
> I'm not really satisfied with this chapter, but a serious case of writer's block is stopping me from detailing it further. If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them. Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

Chara, Frisk, Sammy and Matthew all rushed forward to give Asriel a hug. Chara reached him first, then Frisk and Sammy, and finally Matthew, who gave the whole group one. It was an endearing sight; five kids hugging it out.

"I'm so sorry." The tears were coming out of everyone now. "I always was a crybaby, wasn't I, Chara?"

"Yeah, but that's not a bad thing sometimes." Chara crying looked so foreign to Matthew. He wasn't used to that for someone who was always so serious and composed. Of course, he himself was crying, so who was he judge?

Asriel pulled himself out of the hug. "And what are your names?" He asked them.

"I'm Matthew, and this is Sammy."

"Those... those are nice names." Matthew smiled.

"You know," Asriel began, his face looking more serious, "when I was a flower, I couldn't feel anything, because I didn't have a soul. But now, with all the human and monster souls in me, I can feel that there are people who really care about you. Toriel, Sans, Papyrus... they all really care about you."

Matthew suddenly felt a huge wave of emotions. It had been so long since people had cared about him... or he had cared about people. But now, the feelings were coming back like it was yesterday.

"I understand if you guys hate me. I acted so strange and horr-"

"No, Asriel." Matthew had cut him off before Chara could. "That wasn't you. Having no soul changed you into someone else. We don't blame you for anything."

Everyone in the group gave their assent. Asriel started tearing up again.

"Matthew... you're gonna make me cry again."

Asriel stepped back, remembering something.

"Well, even if you guys do forgive me, I still can't keep these souls inside of me. The least I can do is return them."

Matthew motioned for everyone else to step back as well. "But first..."

"There's something I have to do. Right now, everyone's hearts burn with the same desire. It's time for monsters to finally go free."

Asriel concentrated, focusing all his power. He started floating off the ground. Then, the souls started flying. First the humans, then the monsters. There was hundreds of white souls. Until finally...

The Barrier was destroyed.

At the same time, Matthew could feel all the magic flowing into the amulet around his neck. It seemed infinite, like there was no end to the flow of power. Then, as quickly as it came, it was gone.

Matthew's amulet was now glowing a bright white, just like a monster's soul. Magic seemed to radiate from it.

Asriel floated back down, landing next to Chara.

"Chara, I have to go now. Without all the souls, I can't keep maintaining this form. In a little while, I'll turn back into a flower. I'll stop being 'myself'."

Chara was crying again. "Azzy, I know I can't stop you. You don't want to be near everyone as Flowey. But I promise, I'll come visit often. I won't forget you."

That made Sammy and Matthew cry again. It was very emotional. They both wept as Chara and Asriel had a big hug.

"Well, goodbye, everyone." Asriel started walking away. "Take care of Mom and Dad for-"

"Actually, Asriel..." Matthew tried to suppress tears and a smile while unhooking his amulet, failing at both. "You don't have to leave."

"What do you mean, Matthew?"

He walked over to Asriel, then hooked the necklace around him. The magic aura pulsed, filling Asriel's body.

"This has all the magic released from the Barrier. It isn't really made for this, as it's containment magic, but it should be able to keep you in goat for-"

Matthew was tackled from behind by Chara. They rolled on the ground for a bit before stopping, with Chara laying on top of Matthew.

"Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" It was less of a hug and more of a squeeze.

"My pleasure, Chara. I always keep my promises." He returned it in full force.

Asriel waited patiently for his turn, standing until Chara had gotten off of him. He then proceeded to practically jump on Matthew.

"Matthew, I can't... I can't thank you enough for this. This is like a whole new life is starting!"

Matthew had a huge grin on his face. "Don't feel Baaaaa-d about it, Asriel. You deserve this."

"But I really don-" He got the pun. "Matthew..."

Asriel let off, allowing Matthew to get up.

"Ready to see everyone?" Matthew asked.

"I'm ready for anything!" Asriel said gleefully.

\---

The five of them woke up in the middle of a stone room, surrounded by all their friends. A few of them gasped when they got up.

"Son?" asked Asgore.

"Asriel?" Toriel cried out.

"Prince Asriel?" Alphys said in shock.

"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad. Hello, Dr. Alphys." He was quickly brought into an embrace by his parents.

"Asriel, how are you alive?" That was Alphys, being scientific in even the most emotional of moments.

Matthew made a slashing motion across his throat to the other humans, signaling not to tell. Asriel would explain in time.

"It's a long story. What's important now is that the Barrier is gone! Monsters are free!"

Sammy ran over to the end of the hallway. "C'mon, guys! Let's go see the Surface!"

As everyone started filing out, Matthew put a hand on Sans. "Hey, can I talk to you for a moment?" he asked.

"sure thing." They waited until everyone else was gone. "so, what's up?"

"Sans, I just wanted to let you know... you won't be seeing me anymore. I have places to go."

"ah, well that's too bad. you were the only one who liked my terrific humor."

"Yeah, I'm sure you'll be bone-ly without me." They shared a laugh. "But seriously, thanks for all your help. By not doing anything, you did everything."

"don't sweat it, kid. not doing things is my favorite thing to do."

"Yeah, it's mine too." There was a pause. "Let's go see the surface, shall we?"

They both walked through the doorway and out into the open. It was picture perfect; the sun rising over the forest, with a mountain and and a city on both sides. It was like a postcard.

"Ah, Matthew. My son has told me all about you." Matthew raised an eyebrow. "So I wanted to ask you if you and the others wanted to be ambassadors for Monsterkind."

Everyone nodded their head, except for Matthew. "I'm sorry, but I have places to go. I can't take a job right now."

Asgore nodded. "I understand. You have a family to return to."

Papyrus suddenly ran off. Matthew was a little worried, until Sans said "i'll keep him out of trouble," and wandered off. He trusted him.

"Papyrus! Do I have to do everything?" Undyne followed where Papyrus had ran off.

"Undyne, wait!" And there went Alphys.

Asgore felt the tension growing, so he left soon as well. Then it was just Toriel, Asriel, and the four humans.

"So... I'm sure you all have places to be, do you not?"

Sammy and Frisk looked at each other, then nodded. "We want to stay with you!" they let out together.

"Well, I'm sure Chara and Asriel would love new additions to the family."

Chara tugged on Toriel's robe. "Mom, I'm sorry, but can us and Asriel have some privacy for a moment? We need to talk about some secret stuff."

"Oh, alright. I'll just find the others." Toriel walked off.

Chara turned to face Matthew. "So, this is where you leave?"

"Yep." Matthew pointed to a section of cliff that was missing, showing a hole of black void. "That's my exit ticket."

He first approached Asriel. "Asriel, I may not have known you for very long, but I really like you. I'm sure you and my brother will grow to be good friends."

Asriel smiled. "And I'll never forget what you've done for me, Matthew." He held up the pendant. "I'll miss you."

He then walked over to Frisk. "Goodbye, Frisk. Make sure to keep everyone else on the side of MERCY, alright?"

"It won't be easy, but I'll try. Thanks for everything, Matthew."

Next was Sammy. "Well, bro, this is it. You're right, you belong here." He pulled out his Torn Notebook. "That's why I want you to have this. It contains all my notes on how to be as successful as possible on the surface. I'm sure you'll make good use of them."

Sammy pulled into a big hug. "I'll miss you, bro."

"And I'll miss you too."

It finally was Chara's turn. "Well, this is it, Chara. Make sure to keep out meeting in Waterfall in mind, alright?"

"I will, as long as you don't reset on me over there, alright?" They playfully poked at his chest.

"Don't worry about that. The least I can do is let you guys keep your happy ending."

It was time.

As he was stepping through the hole, he looked behind him one last time.

They were all waving at him, with Chara trying to say something.

"Matthew... Don't kill, and don't be killed, alright?"

He gave one last smile. "I'll try my best, Chara."

And then he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...to SAVE the world.
> 
> I'm finally almost done with this story, although I do plan on coming back to it later and re-editing it to make it more complete and add more foreshadowing. Please put any suggestions in the comments, and I'll get to them as soon as I can. Thanks for reading!


	11. Epilogue

Matthew found himself back inside his room, facing away from his computer screen. Turning around, he saw little pixelated sprites of Frisk, Chara, and Sammy on the screen. He smiled to himself, then shut off the monitor.

He slowly opened the white door and tip-toed down the hallway towards his bedroom. He didn't want to disturb his roommate, who was hard at work programing an indie game. He called himself TF, and said that he was going to name his game Deltarune.

Entering his room and closing the door behind him, Matthew let out a long sigh. He was really going to miss the world of Undertale.

He set his steel-rimmed Cloudy Glasses on his desk, then lay on the bed for a few minutes.

Checking his watch, Matthew realized that his friends had planned a huge party in about 15 minutes! They said that everyone worth their salt would be there, and illegal alcohol might be distributed.

Matthew quickly put on a navy-blue sweatshirt, grabbed a couple of twenty dollar bills, and hurried out the front door. He quickly locked it behind him, then ran off for the party.

\---

Later that night, a figure wearing a long shadowed robe stalked a green and red house on a long-forgotten street. Not wanting to disturb the inhabitants of the house, the robed human quietly climbed a tree nearby and lowered themselves through the open window. They took a pair of glasses off the desk before silently crawling on the plush floor down the hall. When they reached the computer, the figure turned on the monitor, opened files, and plugged in a USB.

Finding the correct files, the shadowed human quickly copied them onto the USB. While trying to turn the monitor back off, the robed arm slipped through the computer screen. Reeling back in surprise, the figure then shrugged their shoulders.

They stepped back, then jumped through the screen.

It wobbled, then fell, crashing onto the floor in a pile of broken glass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End of an Era, and the beginning of a new one...
> 
> As you might have guessed, there is a sequel to this story. It will follow the adventures of the humans and monsters on the surface, along with Mystery Man. I will also be re-editing this book later to make it longer and more detailed. Until then, thanks for reading!


End file.
